Under the federal plan, provinces can choose to phase out coal entirely and replace it with lower-emitting sources – as Alberta is doing – or they can use carbon capture and storage technology, McKenna said.

The move is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than five megatonnes by 2030 – the equivalent of taking 1.3 million cars off the road. This is in addition to the 10 megatonnes that Alberta’s early phaseout of coal represents.

But he also accused the federal government of violating – for the second time – its commitment to work with the provinces to develop a pan-Canadian approach to climate change that would be discussed and finalized at a first ministers’ meeting next month.